back to article Homeopathic remedies contaminated with REAL medicine get recalled

A batch of homeopathic remedies have been recalled in the US after it was discovered that they contained real medicine. Terra-Medica is voluntarily recalling 56 lots of homeopathic drug products in liquid, tablet, capsule, ointment, and suppository forms after it was discovered the alternative treatments potentially contained …

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  1. Rich 11

    Surely, according to homeopathic principles, the less penicillin contaminant there is, the greater the allergic reaction?

    1. Old Handle
      Boffin

      No, the greater the anti-allergic reaction.

      1. edge_e
        Boffin

        I suggest reading this before commenting further

        http://howhomeopathyworks.com/

        1. This post has been deleted by its author

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: I suggest reading this before commenting further

          Better link:

          http://www.howdoeshomeopathywork.com/

          1. edge_e
            Thumb Up

            Re: I suggest reading this before commenting further

            That'll be the one I couldn't remember.

            Have an upvote from me.

          2. cortland

            Re: I suggest reading this before commenting further

            Barely better, and only by comparison...

            http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Mark_Twain#Homeopathy

            And hey, what IF fake medicine has real ingredients, eh? Anything to get a rise...

            http://www.fda.gov/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/BuyingUsingMedicineSafely/MedicationHealthFraud/ucm388436.htm

  2. Tachikoma

    homeopathic drug products in liquid, tablet, capsule, ointment, and suppository forms

    I always said for all the good they will do you, you might as well shove them up your arse!

    The family of an ex of mine were heavily into this garbage, the father had an ingrowing toenail and was "prescribed" homeopathic pills instead of taking his hospital supplied antibiotics after his operation. He nearly ended up hospitalised with a blood infection. The "practitioner" kept flogging them more and more of these tablets, assuring the family they would work. I had to beg them to take him to a real doctor after his toe was about 3x the normal size, weeping stinking puss and he could barely stay conscious.

    1. Rich 11

      Some people are so utterly convinced, against all evidence, that their particular form of woo works that they will die for the cause -- or be killed by an equally-convinced "practitioner".

      The worst story I heard was of an Australian woman with bowel cancer. She started off by acting on normal medical advice, but hated the surgery and chemo that she went through. That's understandable, but it caused her to abandon medicine and turn to a homeopath who swore she could be cured by "gentler, natural" means. Sadly her disease progressed and she stuck with the homeopathy even when her abdomen was visibly distended by the mass of tumours. In the final four days before she died (most probably of dehydration), her blocked bowel caused her to vomit faeces.

      Of course if she had survived, the homeopath would have claimed it was due to homeopathy rather than to the earlier surgery and chemotherapy.

      1. Androgynous Cupboard Silver badge

        Heard of this happening many times. The switch to alternative medicine is always doing wonders for them and they feel much better right up until they drop dead, sometimes from a curable illness. It would be funny if it didn't happen to real people.

        1. Aqua Marina

          What do we do for those for whom it works?

          My mother was in a wheelchair caused by psoriatic arthritis. She was told after 20 years of failed treatments that she would never walk again, and she was literally left to waste away in a wheelchair and die. She turned to homeopathy, and now 10 years later, and double the weight she was in the wheelchair, walks several miles per day and is quite energetic and well known on the car-boot scene.

          I was diagnosed at 13 with an undefined skin disease. From 13 to 21 I was passed from doctor to specialist to doctor. Was filled to the brim with antibiotics and the most expensive and powerful drugs I could be prescribed on the NHS. I even went private which cost my parents a fortune. At 22 I was told that there was nothing more that could be done. I turned to Homeopathy. I'm now 40, and the only sign of a skin disease left on my body is a 1 inch square spot of psoriasis on my thigh, and a white patch of hair, about an inch square on my head.

          Now in these instances, I ask non-believers what they think people in my mother's and my case should do. Should we simply accept modern sciences proclamation that there nothing more that can be done, admit defeat and wait to die, or do we go out looking for alternatives. Please provide me with your insight on what your prescription should be. What should we have done?

          To me it's simple. I'll start to believe modern science, when they perform alternative medicine research, using subjects for whom all other medical treatments have been exhausted.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            Why should 'modern science' do homeopathy's work for it? Any homoeopathic 'cure' that could be clinically proven to work would rake in billions for the team that did the research, yet no homoeopathic group is prepared to do this research, for some reason.

            Sometimes dumb luck is the answer, but it has a horrible success rate. Fortunately for it, none of the unlucky majority are around to complain.

            1. Aqua Marina

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

              By that reasoning why should modern science expel effort try to disprove it?

              Don't get me wrong, I believe in modern science. But what do we do with the people for whom it would and does work? I'm here, and my mother is still alive despite the best doctors telling her she should be dead and they don't know why.

              What would you have told me and my mum to do at the time?

              Everyone else If you are going to downvote, at least have the guts to explain your reasoning.

              1. Annihilator
                Boffin

                Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

                "Everyone else If you are going to downvote, at least have the guts to explain your reasoning."

                I didn't downvote, but here's the (very simple) argument. The "medical" profession *does* do research into alternative medicine - to paraphrase Dara O'Briain, they tested it all and the stuff that works *reliably*, they kept and called "medicine".

                They also don't test if it's better than "nothing", they test if it's better than placebo. Placebo is a very powerful treatment in itself. One sugar pill can "cure" all manner of ailments and even stranger, *two* sugar pills are twice as effective.

            2. Tom 13

              Re: work would rake in billions for the team that did the research

              No it wouldn't. It would rake in billions for the industry, not necessarily the research team. This is the essential problem of alternative medicines: because they are not patent-centric there's no incentive to spend the large amounts of cash to prove the work because everyone else will benefit more than you will.

              There is a sense in which homeopathy is based on the same thing as what we think of as proper medicine: introducing small amounts of the pathogen induce immune responses that fight the disease. This is the basis of most of Pasteur's work. The difference being that he was able to do the work to quantify and test to isolate known good cures.

              This doesn't mean I advocate homeopathy. It is untested and therefore highly risky.

          2. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: Aqua Marina

            Glad to hear you and your mother are doing well. But don't mistake mistaken diagnoses as successful treatment. Some diagnoses such as "it will never get better" are wrong, and people pull through with their own strength and hard work (though medicine is also important when prescribed/required).

            However, a single instance, is difficult to know the cause. Was it you or your mothers diet? Was the doctor just simply wrong? Was it the new treatment? Is it just drinking more water? It is important to not get these things mixed up, else we suffer harm.

            PS, interestingly, things such as stress can have real physical results to our health and immune systems response. We cannot make things better than our body can deliver through less stress, but we can stop it failing completely like when it has a lot of stress. Sometimes the way we are cared for and the way we react to that care can help or hinder us.

            1. Aqua Marina

              Re: Aqua Marina

              Ok, but if some diagnoses of "it will never get better" are wrong, can some diagnoses of "homeopathy never works" be equally wrong?

              My opinion of this topic so far, is that science and doctors can do no wrong. But... when they do get it wrong, the response is, "meh everyone is human". But they don't apply the same "meh, shit happens" when casting judgement on anything that goes against the perceived wisdom, that they just decided could be infalliable in another circumstance.

              1. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Aqua Marina

                nobody is claiming that doctors can do no wrong, just that modern medicine needs proof beyond the anecdotal.

              2. AlbertH

                Re: Aqua Marina

                Homeopathy, to any rational person, is just silly. Diluting herbs to the point where there is none of the original material left simply leaves you with water. That's it. Pure and simple. Water.

                Water cannot have "memory" - it consists of pairs of very simple molecules, each made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. I'll be happy to compare some ordinary clean water with any "homeopathic" water in whatever scientific instrument a "homeopath" chooses to demonstrate the magical difference. There will be no difference whatsoever.

                As a rational scientist, it's fun to laugh at the clueless who're gulled by these charlatans, but I do feel very slightly sorry for the people who have suffered so grossly at their hands. Anyone who declares that they are a "homeopath" should be locked up, just like any other fraudster.

              3. Anonymous Coward
                Anonymous Coward

                Re: Aqua Marina

                The best treatment comes with kind treatment. No one has said that doctors can do no wrong. It's about finding out what causes what and what effects what. :)

                Think about your examples. Is it a fair comparison for all of medicine with all of homoeopathy? What about specific examples, what areas compare?

                I say "doctors sometimes get things wrong", and "sometimes we get better, for a reason we do not yet know" (but hope to find out soon).

                Both of those things are not common, they only happen on few occasions. That is, everyone makes more right decisions than wrong ones (hopefully).

                So if we apply that to homoeopathy or medicine, we get one side or the other being wrong. The only way to find out is to keep to pure facts. The facts will speak for only one side of the argument, which one do you see being supported?

                Beyond that it is opinion, and that is fine but we must realise it is only that and nothing more. :)

            2. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: Aqua Marina

              This reminds me of the observation that if you have lower back pain and go to a chiropractor, you will be cured in a month. But if you just rest your back and take paracetamol, it will eventually clear up of its own accord in four weeks.

          3. d3vy

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            Do you know what "alternative medicine" that works and is proven to work is called?

            a: medicine.

            1. Squander Two

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

              There is a distressing tendency amongst rationalists to confuse modern medicine with the scientific method. Dara O'Briain's line about testing alternative medicine, finding the stuff that works, and calling it "medicine" is a great bit of stand-up comedy, but, in the interests of snappiness, misses out the real-world stages where doctors whose pet theories are challenged put their fingers in their ears, dig their heels in, and denounce anyone they outrank. I'm a migraine sufferer, and have spoken to plenty of doctors over the years who either prescribe the drug known as "eat less cheese" or simply refuse to believe the condition even exists.

              To paraphrase another great man: Evidence-based medicine sounds like a superb idea. When it's available, please sign me up. Meanwhile, while doctors continue to pedal their peculiar mixture of science, guesswork, received wisdom, old wives' tales, condescension, and prejudice, I'll reserve the right to shop around a bit without being accused of being anti-science, thanks.

              That being said, homeopathy is bollocks.

          4. Winkypop Silver badge

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            I see your anecdotal evidence and raise you a full clinical blinded trial.

            1. Tom 13

              Re: raise you a full clinical blinded trial.

              Fine, but you have to pay for it.

          5. Scroticus Canis
            Holmes

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            Well, be happy that for them it did work.

            Ever heard of the Placebo Effect? Think that's the case here, also just having someone listening and willing to help is all the therapy needed in some cases (psychology 101).

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

              But what if the recipient doesn't know about a placebo effect? Homeopathy has merits but it is not a solution for everything. Just like modern science has its limits as well.

          6. Wade Burchette

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            To Aqua Marina:

            I do not discount that some homeopathy works. And I believe people are too pill-happy. However, homeopathy is no substitute for a doctor.

            Let me give you a true example. Last January my grandmother had a major heart attack. The last sensible thing she was able to do was call for an ambulance. Her mind was never the same after that. She spent almost the rest of her life in a hospital. My cousin, who was her favorite grandchild, is a hippie who is big into these organic and non-genetically modified foods. He kept claiming that the doctors were killing my grandmother. 4 months after the heart attack, doctors determined my grandmother was well enough for supervised care at home. The day my grandmother came back home, my hippie cousin gave her a homeopathic drink of dandelion leaves and some other things. Two hours later, my grandmother was extremely sick. But my hippie cousin kept fighting the family not wanting to call an ambulance. Eventually an ambulance was called. 5 days later my grandmother was dead.

            I will forever associate homeopathic medicine with seeing my grandmother moaning and unable to communicate with her the last days she was alive. Her condition was so bad that I could not bear to see her like that. I saw her on a Saturday and a Sunday. She died on Monday. I just couldn't bring myself to see her one last time, that is how bad it was.

            You keep your homeopathy if you want. But never ever think it can replace a real doctor and real medicine.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?- @Wade Burchette

              It's a distressing story but the only person to blame is your cousin. If it had been homoeopathic medicine, it would have consisted of nothing but water.

              Incidentally, was there an inquest? Because if a relative administers a suspicious substance to an elderly person who dies a few days later, normally the plod would be asking questions.

            2. launcap Silver badge

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

              >day my grandmother came back home, my hippie cousin gave her a homeopathic drink of dandelion >leaves and some other things. Two hours later,

              Don't confuse herbalism with homeopathy... a large proportion of our pharmacopea is derived from compounds found in plants (asprin being a good example - it's a safer form of the compound found in willow bark).

              Of course, the problems with herbalism are:

              1. You don't have to be licensed to practice

              2. The dosage in the mix will vary according to several factors (freshness, time in the lifecycle the plant was picked, how it was processed, the particular strain of the plant used etc etc)

              And the combination of the two means it's pretty dangerous. Add in interactions between the drugs in the herbs and the drugs in the medicine and you have a recipe for bad things to happen

          7. Filippo Silver badge

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            I had an "incurable" skin condition when I was a kid too. Modern medicine offered some cortisone for the days when it was real bad, but nothing to really cure it. Not believing in unproven "medicine", I didn't turn to anything else - I simply lived with it. Now guess what - I'm 33 and it's nearly disappeared, only occasionally flaring up a little but even then perfectly manageable without treatment. At this rate I'm pretty sure it'll be gone by the time I'm 40.

            Of course, if I had taken to homeopathy, I'd have had the exact same result, which are exactly the same results you've had (down to the white patch of hair, which I've had since I was 20!), with the only difference that I'd be mistakenly attributing them to homeopathy.

            1. d3vy

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

              Filippo - Well put.

              I suppose if he wanted to prove it he could stop taking his water/sugar pills and show the symptoms coming back...

              1. Annihilator
                Boffin

                Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

                "I suppose if he wanted to prove it he could stop taking his water/sugar pills and show the symptoms coming back..."

                That wouldn't prove much though - even if it were attributable to placebo, it would probably stop "working". A (not very) scientific version would be to have a family member hold the drugs, and give decide at random whether to hand over the "real" homeopathic remedy vs a dummy one and record the level of symptoms.

                This would be a single blind trial without a control though, and be open to the experimenter (the family member) knowing which remedy is in effect that week, and change their behaviour either consciously or unconsciously

          8. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            > I was diagnosed at 13 with an undefined skin disease. From 13 to 21 I was passed from doctor to specialist to doctor.

            I was diagnosed at 11 with asthma. From 11 to 18 I had to put up with having a salbutamol inhaler permanently on hand. My Doctors told me it would be with me for life.

            Then at 18 I started smoking. By the age 21 I had suffered my last asthma attack. For 30 years I smoked and remained clear of asthma, then 4 years ago I stopped smoking. My asthma is back.

            Smoking cures asthma.

            /sarc

            1. teebie

              Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

              > I was diagnosed at 13 with an undefined skin disease

              swhen I was 13 I was 4 feet tall - in today's society this has many disadvantages - short people tend to earn less, hae greater difficulties meeting partners, and on average report less satisfaction with life. Then I looked at a cow. Now, decades later, i am 5'11".

              Looking at cows makes you taller.

              1. d3vy

                Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

                "Looking at cows makes you taller."

                This explains a lot!

                Im 6'1" and lived in the countryside surrounded by cows from the ages of 13-16, my friend on the other hand lived there all his life and is 6'4"... It must be the cows!

                In fact, his WHOLE FAMILY are taller than average, its the bloody cows! Why didn't I see it before?!?!

          9. Not That Andrew

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            Thing is "good" homeopaths will recommend dietary and lifestyle changes, it is usually these and the placebo effect that actually cure whatever the patient is suffering from when homeopathy works

          10. No, I will not fix your computer

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            >>To me it's simple. I'll start to believe modern science, when they perform alternative medicine research, using subjects for whom all other medical treatments have been exhausted.

            Sometimes, things (what we say in the industry) "get better on their own", the body is an amazing thing, we also use (slightly annoying) phrases like "grow out of it", unfortunately we don't know all the triggers for things, psoriatic arthritis for example - you don't "have" it in the same way as you "have" a broken leg, symptoms can come and go, flareups with exposure to certain triggers are possible (although there appears to be a genetic factor, which may explain your condition), in other words it's perfect for the woo of homoeopathy, the condition doesn't get better with X so you try Y and it gets better, therefore (the pattern forming animal) says Y fixed it, it's irrelevant (to you) if it "just went away", or you body learnt how to cope with certain triggers, or the triggers ceased being there (and this is of course before we get into the realm of placebo effect).

            If for example (as another poster says) Y always fixes "psoriatic arthritis", consistently don't you think that it would be trivial to do a study? This is the problem with homoeopathy - the effect is not consistent, and, at best no better than placebo, in fact the best independent meta study (Cochrane) finds this exact result - in other words, the thing you're asking for has been done.

            All that said, I'm in two minds, the NHS funds a homoeopathic hospital in London, actually that isn't true, "The Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine" as it has been renamed attempts to align "complementary" medicine with "traditional" medicine and homoeopathy is one of the "complements", my personal view is that it's a costly (but sometime effective) placebo for hypochondriacs, but as they say YMMV, if it makes you happy to throw spilt salt over your shoulder you do it, hell, I won't even get all bent out of shape just because some of my tax money is paying for it there's worse things in this world than someone who needs a placebo to get by (although I was a bit disappointed by "Loud like love", "Meds" was so much better - see what I did there?)

          11. James Micallef Silver badge
            Facepalm

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            It might work for some people, but since it's not consistently replicable it means it's not known WHY it works, and clearly it doesn't work for the reasons stated by the practitioner.

            It's quite possible that homeopathic and other alternatives have a strong placebo effect (which should not be discounted, it's a real and strong effect) that work where 'real' medicine does not. (Got to keep in mind that 'real' medicine is nowhere near 100% effective either, AND can have some pretty nasty side effects)

            But for heaven's sake, if you can see that whatever your homeopathic practitioner is giving you is not working, you got to call them out on it and move to something that does.

          12. launcap Silver badge
            Stop

            Re: What do we do for those for whom it works?

            ------------------------------------------------------

            My mother was in a wheelchair caused by psoriatic arthritis. She was told after 20 years of failed treatments that she would never walk again, and she was literally left to waste away in a wheelchair and die. She turned to homeopathy, and now 10 years later, and double the weight she was in the wheelchair, walks several miles per day and is quite energetic and well known on the car-boot scene.

            ------------------------------------------------------

            Speaking as someone who has PSA (and it's not much fun) it varies immensely depending on your mental state. Since the placebo effect is a mental effect, it's entirely possible that her belief that the medication works did leave to an improvement - not because the homeopathy worked, but because she believed it would.

            Me - I'll stick to my sulphasalazine and leflunomide - they have proper tested double-blind clinical trials that show they work. But then I'm the offspring of an industrial pharmacist and a nurse so (as far as the homeopaths are concerned) I'm already in the camp of evil (or science, as I'd prefer to call it).

      2. Martin Budden Silver badge

        Some people are so utterly convinced, against all evidence, that their particular form of woo works that they will die for the cause

        Steve Jobs.

  3. Tanuki
    WTF?

    Ironic...

    I always used to taunt a homeophile [is that the correct term for a devotee of homeopathy?] by asking her what the homeopathic treatment for multiple gunshot-wounds would be.

    1. Hud Dunlap
      FAIL

      @Tanuki

      Epic Fail.

      You don't go to a DDS for a broken arm and you don't go to an MD for a toothache.

      You use whatever method works best in the circumstances.

      1. NumptyScrub

        Re: @Tanuki

        Multiple gunshot wounds would be several massive blunt force traumas, so the "natural" equivalent producing the same symptoms would be something like a bull, moose or an angry billy goat.

        I reckon some 80/20 chuck, boiled and then diluted to more than 1 part in 1,000,000 would be a relevant homeopathic medicine to take (orally). Potentially Bisto or other beef stock would do at a pinch.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: @Tanuki

        You don't go to a DDS for a broken arm and you don't go to an MD for a toothache.

        just curious, what do you go to a homeopath for? dehydration?

      3. Chad H.

        Re: @Tanuki

        Which means you go to Homeopathy when you're dehydrated?

        Homeopathy: In case of overdose, consult a lifeguard.

    2. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
      Coffee/keyboard

      Re: Ironic...

      Icon says it all have an upvote

    3. jonathanb Silver badge

      Re: Ironic...

      The word you are looking for is "homoeopath"

  4. Tom_

    Suppositories

    Learning that people use homeopathic suppositories has amused me more than anything else today.

    That's just brilliant.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Suppositories

      I suspect the reason is that they may seem more effective than the pills, generally the placebo effect is more pronounced the more invasive it appears to the user, fake injections and suppositories often see better results than ingested placebos.

  5. alain williams Silver badge

    Homeopathy works ...

    simply because your body will cure itself of many illnesses given a bit of time anyway. The other thing that a homeopathic practitioner will do is to spend much more than the NHS 10 minute GP appointment with the patient, a bit of sympathy goes a long way to making people feel better.

    OK: not really homeopathy working, but probably explains why some people think that it does.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Homeopathy works ...

      That and reducing stress seems to have real effects in allowing your body to react correctly. Increased stress shuts things down we might need (but does it's job in emergencies, such as getting adrenaline, being sick, but surviving a stressful situation).

      The placebo effect in effect. Also, note epigenetics : http://youtu.be/kp1bZEUgqVI

  6. Tom 35

    My guess

    It is unclear how the remedies were contaminated with antibiotics.

    What ever they use as filler went moldy. They scrapped off the fur and used it anyway.

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Allergy, or not?

    I did read the other day - and I suspect it was not a robust science based article - that in some cases patients take antibiotics when the actual problem is viral. Then when a day or two later they come out in a viral-induced rash they assume they have had an allergic reaction to the pills.

    I wonder if in these cases -and this is just my totally unjustified thoughts - they then stop taking the antibiotics, and so further the possibility of antibiotic resistance.

    That said - any possibility of allergic reaction is very serious, and total batch recall, followed by a severe bollocking for the guilty parties is an appropriate action.

    1. Pet Peeve

      Re: Allergy, or not?

      Leave it to homeopaths that the one time their snake oil contains biologically active compounds, the results are worse than useless.

      I don't know what the heck they think they were doing, but STOP MESSING AROUND WITH ANTIBIOTICS. We have precious little time left before many will no longer be effective - releasing useless amounts into the bodies of gullible people will only shorten that time.

  8. TRT Silver badge

    So that's why hogwash tastes of bacon...

  9. Lockwood

    All you people speaking out against this are just homeophobes!

  10. Professor Clifton Shallot

    Critical hit

    "Critics of homeopathy argue its remedies are just placebos."

    Critical? Surely that's the only thing that can be said in favour of them, is it not?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Please stop...

    knocking alternative medicine, I've been recommending it to the Mother-in-Law for years now and too many facts might put her off...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Please stop...

      Too right mate, I'm praying mine goes the same way as the lady up the road that coughed her last in the doctor's surgery after treating bronchitis-> pneumonia with "magic tea"' ...only in her 40s.... seemed a decent type...

      The MIL gives us all food-poisoning every 2 weeks or so from a terminal fear of dish-washing liquid...doctor thought the wife had "had hepatitis" judging purely from the damage to her liver,

      so, nothing personal, you understand :)

  12. Christoph
    Alert

    Danger! Do not stop taking your homeopathic remedy!

    If you stop taking your homeopathic remedy you are likely to die of a massive overdose!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Headmaster

      Re: Danger! Do not stop taking your homeopathic remedy!

      Best solution is to ask a homephath what happens if you drink tap water, Evian or sea water.

  13. Anonymous Coward
    Coat

    An excellent article

    Without a trace of irony.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: An excellent article

      Does that mean it has the effect of total irony?

      /missed the joke

    2. John Bailey

      Re: An excellent article

      "Without a trace of irony."

      Which was originally a full of irony, but has been diluted so many times, it has no irony left, yet is now more ironic than it was at the start.

  14. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I was going to write a book about homeopathy ...

    ... by taking one fact and hiding it somewhere in a 25-volume epic.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I was going to write a book about homeopathy ...

      It's already been done. It's called Homeopathy.

  15. phil dude
    Boffin

    bad science....

    Read good ole Ben's blog (and his book) for a fascinating (worrying) look at the drug industry.

    I could go on a rant, but I did that earlier this week after a "med student" in the campus coffee shop who was trying to convince me that "manual manipulation is an art not a science, but is still medicine".

    Having said that, the side effects of the pharmaceutical industry provided goods, opens the door to all sorts of crazy woo (as Prof. Brian says).

    It is sad that the line between barmy, entertaining and deadly serious is sometimes so thin...

    P.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: bad science....

      "manual manipulation is an art not a science, but is still medicine".

      Well, it's helped me to grow hair on my palms and I'm having trouble seeing...not quite the medical outcome I was hoping for, but then...

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: bad science....

      Hopefully it's a mistake, not in understanding of the student, but in language "a skill not just science"? A "practical learned response, not head knowledge"?

      As "art not science" leads to no benefit over the emotional one... which is massage, no?

      But then again, I always hope for the better in people...

  16. Anonymous Coward
    Pirate

    Water music

    I wonder if the Ocean "remembers" everybody that's ever pissed in it?

    1. Steven Raith

      Re: Water music

      If homeopathy were real, we'd all be immune to urinary tract infections.

      And piles. Probably.

      :-)

    2. Annihilator
      Boffin

      Re: Water music

      Pretty much, in the same way that every breath you take contains some of Caesar's dying breath in it.

      Google "Caesar's Last Breath"

    3. M Gale

      Re: Water music

      Remember that a blue whale ejaculates about 50 gallons, of which about 2% finds its way into the female.

      So if you ever wondered why seawater is salty, well. No need to thank me. My pleasure.

      1. jake Silver badge

        Idiots abound. (was: Re: Water music)

        http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/whale.asp

        1. M Gale

          Re: Idiots abound. (was: Water music)

          Yes, Jake, we know.

          I was hoping you'd know what site this is. I mean I was trying to make it a bit obvious.

        2. toxicdragon

          @Jake

          http://xkcd.com/250/

      2. This post has been deleted by its author

  17. Stevie

    Bah!

    Heh heh. One wonders that there are any atoms of penicillin in the "medication" at all.

    Gotta love the "alternate medicine" crowd. I had a boss who suffered years of agony with a bad hip joint that he was having "treated" with something called "crystal therapy". These days that would probably mean he was tweaking around the pain, but he explained it involved getting close to the "healthy vibrations" of quartz crystals. I asked him if vibrating quartz was so healthy to be next to, how come he'd gotten sick in the first place when he always wore a digital watch with a quartz-controlled oscillator in it strapped to his wrist?

    A Chinese colleague was extolling the virtues of reflexology to me last week. This loony theory has it that there is a place on the sole of the right foot for every location in the body, and by manipulating the foot one can "cure anything". I asked him where on the right foot corresponded to the right foot (I have recently become subject to gout attacks so this wasn't idle questioning) and he got mad.

    And because no Credulous Saucer Loon story is complete without a dowser:

    A family member "explained" dowsing to me recently by citing electric fields in the water. I was about to ask about why underground water wouldn't just conduct these electric fields to ground when the dowser went on to say "Obvious really, hydroelectric plants get electricity from water don't they?"

    This was a classic "so many things wrong" moment that I was unable to do more than stand mute in awe of the reasoning.

    1. Robert Forsyth

      Re: Bah!

      Dowsing

      Could it be that the water make a feint low frequency rumble which resonates the rib-cage?

      Ever been too close to the bass bins at a concert and have the feeling your lungs vibrate?

      Why does Tarzan beat his chest?

      Although missing out the machinery in a hydroelectric plant, which converts the potential energy of water up hill to rotating magnets was amusing - akin to being frightened by the WiFi signal, but not the microwave oven, car alarm remote, cordless phone, etc.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Bah!

        It's a great idea and personally I would like to see car mechanics also taking up dowsing for comedy value, but sadly it might not be needed when the wheel bearings finally start to howl like Lemmy.... :)

    2. Peter Simpson 1
      Coat

      Re: Bah!

      I've found that being close enough to control very small pieces of vibrating quartz (at a frequency in the 40m band) has a relaxing effect...but only if the oscillations are controlled at a rate above 15 wpm.

      // the one with the key in the pocket

      // de KA1AXY

    3. Trygve Henriksen

      No, dowsing isn't another Blah!

      I've actually tried it, and managed to find water.

      (Don't know if I could do it 'on order' though. Probably be too stressed out)

      It's not electricity, though.

      (or at least not just electricity)

      It probably has more to do with magnetism and that cables or underground streams affects the local geomagnetic field.

      1. jake Silver badge

        @ Trygve Henriksen (was: Re: No, dowsing isn't another Blah!)

        More likely, you can find water pretty much anywhere you decide to drill ... assuming that plants already grow there.

        To say nothing of fossil aquifers in miscellaneous deserts, world-wide ...

        Funny how this kind of article always brings out the scientifically disinclined.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: No, dowsing isn't another Blah!

        That's really interesting. So the magnetism in the earth, which is controlled by the water can actually sense stress in humans (and perhaps animals) and turn itself off.

        I had not known that.

        1. Trygve Henriksen

          Re: No, dowsing isn't another Blah!

          Hey, anon F! tard...

          (I used my name. What are you afraid of?)

          I have no idea what you're raving about...

          I was mentioning finding water, and you're complaining about stress?

          As I understand it, running water such as an underground stream will subtly distort the geomagnetic field, much the same way a conductor in a magnetic field will.

          The same with metals.

          And it's NOT about water that's so deep you have to drill for it. If it's deeper than you can dig in a inute or two with a shovel, I wouldn't even bother looking for it. (I'm a lazy bugger... )

          How this interacts with the dowsing rods, though, I have no idea, and until I do, I'm not going to make a fool of myself on TV.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: No, dowsing isn't another Blah!

            "Hey, anon F! tard..."

            Nice, I can see you are rational.

            "...and you're complaining about stress?"

            Err, you complained about stress stopping dowsing working.

            "..this is for 'supernatural' or paranormal abilities"

            No it's not it's for all kinds of baloney. They would readily accept a dowser and have done before.

            "...there isn't a reputable scientist in the world willing to touch dowsing with an Imperial pole(much less a dowsing rod) because he'll be instantly ridiculed and lose all standing in the community."

            Scientists regularly explore ridiculous and outlandish theories all the time. No scientist would be ridiculed for creating a paper exploring dowsing. In fact the results, if proven, would be wildly published and make a name for themselves.

            "Yeah, right... That would look good on a test."

            You decide the terms of the test for JREF. they will then make sure that there is no ambiguity or possibility for using conjuring tricks but outside of that the test is defined by you.

            "All I'm certain of is that the man who taught me the stuff all those years ago used to drive a hydraulic digger, and he never damaged a single cable throughout his career"

            Apart from all the ones he didn't mention (probably when he was too stressed)

            "Then there's the possibility that it was a fluke that I managed to find water that time."

            Bingo, rational thought at last.

      3. Stevie

        Re: No, dowsing isn't another Blah!

        (for Trygve Henriksen )

        Well, I'm an opinionated blowhard and so quite often shown to be full of spit, but I look upon those times as learning experiences, so if you can show this to be a genuine effect that can be performed reliably to order more than 50% of the time I'll recant my views here and loudly.

        But a question occurs: instead of just putting a fat, middle aged English ex-pat in his place, why not apply to the JREF and try and win a million dollars *as well* as putting me in my place? If I could dowse to order I know which I'd be doing, because, you know, when *can't* you use a million dollars?

        You design the test in conjunction with JREF volunteers, you tell them what you can do and if you can do it in a blind test better than 50% of the time you are quids in. You don't even need to explain how it happens.

        Dowsers were always Randi's favourite people to deal with. He said that he never met a single one that was just conning him. They all genuinely believed they could find whatever it was they could dowse, and were all genuinely confused when the preliminary tests showed no better-than-pure-chance success.

        1. Trygve Henriksen

          Re: No, dowsing isn't another Blah!

          Frankly, I wouldn't want to do a JREF test.

          First of all, this is for 'supernatural' or paranormal abilities.

          Dowsing has nothing to do with the mumbo-jumbo crowd.

          If it IS in fact based on geomagnetism, then it's a natural phenomena, and we just need to figure out exactly how it works. Unfortunately, there isn't a reputable scientist in the world willing to touch dowsing with an Imperial pole(much less a dowsing rod) because he'll be instantly ridiculed and lose all standing in the community.

          (I'm no scientist, and frankly have no idea where to start, even if I had time to do it. Which I don't. )

          Then there's the possibility that it was a fluke that I managed to find water that time.

          Or maybe the dirt is the wrong type for dowsing to work, maybe a piece of quartz or a granite boulder triggers a 'false' positive.

          Yeah, right... That would look good on a test.

          All I'm certain of is that the man who taught me the stuff all those years ago used to drive a hydraulic digger, and he never damaged a single cable throughout his career. He even avoided old german phone cables from WWII and slightly more recent NATO cabling, neither of which are on the official maps.

  18. ItsNotMe

    "Harvard Cancer Expert: Steve Jobs Probably Doomed Himself With Alternative Medicine"

    For a person so sure HE knew what was best for OTHER people...he certainly had no clue about his own self.

    Another poster-child for alternative medicine...or maybe not.

    http://gawker.com/5849543/harvard-cancer-expert-steve-jobs-probably-doomed-himself-with-alternative-medicine/all

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "Harvard Cancer Expert: Steve Jobs Probably Doomed Himself With Alternative Medicine"

      Sadly, the desperate act the most desperate, and grasp out at anything. Often is not the right thing.

      1. Turtle

        Re: "Harvard Cancer Expert: Steve Jobs Probably Doomed Himself With Alternative Medicine"

        Or as the saying has it, "Desperate cures for desperate diseases".

      2. Jamie Jones Silver badge
        Unhappy

        Re: "Harvard Cancer Expert: Steve Jobs Probably Doomed Himself With Alternative Medicine"

        " Sadly, the desperate act the most desperate, and grasp out at anything."

        Indeed.

        My cousin started going to see one, and he and his parents said it was really working. He died a month later, aged 22, after being milked by these bastards for lots of cash.

    2. Chad H.

      Re: "Harvard Cancer Expert: Steve Jobs Probably Doomed Himself With Alternative Medicine"

      Andy Kauffman too I bet.

  19. Version 1.0 Silver badge

    Lysergic acid diethylamide

    At the recommended dosage/dilution levels I think this would be a good advertisement for the homeopathic method. It's always worked for me.

  20. MonkeyCee

    Protected title

    In the Netherlands (and Germany too I believe) there's a lot less fuss about this. Because there are plenty of natural health shops and woo sellers, but homeopath is a protected title. It is legally a medical specialty, so you can't call yourself a surgeon, a cardiologist or a homeopath without actually possessing a MD.

    Now I'm not a fan of woo, or legitimising quackery. My dad's a GP, and as far as I'm aware most of the time you get better through a combination of rest, drinking and eating. A small amount of the time it will require an intervention. So visiting a homeopath who will be able to refer you if something does require further testing, and has had a proper education is quite valuable.

    It's also a good use of those with a MD who aren't up to practise. Not intended as a criticism, a MD is a very intellectually challenging qualification, the medical profession attracts those who want to heal and help, but you can't really test how well someone copes with losing patients until they do. So some will not be good because they become too detached, and some will break because they can't detach enough. So having a place for doctors who generally like having patients who are not really sick is a good idea, especially as on the odd times when they are genuinely ill then they can actually spot it.

    I would also trust far more to the ethics of a MD than an evangelist for homeopathic remedies.

    The other thing that annoys me about defenders of homeopathy is when you bring up the money, they defend it by pointing out the pharma industry profits. Yet big pharma can still manage to get me medications for most things at the cost of 1-3 cents a pill for generic paracetamol and antihistamines. Maybe 10-20 cents a pill for vitamins and minerals, gets cheaper each year, Yet homeopathic sugar pills go up in cost each year.

    Worst scam for it I heard was my old landlady in the UK. After spending nearly three thousand quid on treatments over six months, her homeopath "discovered" that her tenant was also getting homeopathic treatments, and so convinced my landlady that these where interfering with her treatment. Thus all the medications had to be repurchased, and the tenant had to transfer the to homeopath to "synchronise" the treatments. Glad to see my rent money was going to a noble cause.

    1. Christoph
      Boffin

      Re: Protected title

      If your landlady's homeopathic medicine wasn't working, she should have taken less of it.

  21. John Tserkezis

    That's why it's been working...

    Kinda like an audiophile using regular copper, or religous outfits realising there was no god some time back, but the tax benefits were too good to let go.

  22. Anonymous Coward
    Paris Hilton

    Government by Homeopaths.

    Both the Health Minister ( Jeremy Hunt, might be rhyming slang ) and the clueless Shadow Health Minister ( some anonymous token woman, flown in to miraculously win Liverpool for Labour ) BOTH believe Homeopathy.

    It's time (real) doctors spoke out and had them both sacked.

    1. Neil Barnes Silver badge
      Boffin

      Re: Government by Homeopaths.

      There's no problem *believing* in homeopathy.

      The problem occurs when you start to believe it works.

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Government by Homeopaths.

      That would assume they wish for facts to be told and health to be had. Though I would hope they were honestly mistaken, as doing it out of spite is unthinkable.

    3. Turtle

      @ Bahboh: Re: Government by Homeopaths.

      "Both the Health Minister [,,,] and the clueless Shadow Health Minister [...] BOTH believe Homeopathy. It's time (real) doctors spoke out and had them both sacked."

      I used to have a fairly positive opinion of Prince Charles until I learned that he is a big proponent of homeopathy and other alternative quackery. Good luck getting him sacked...

  23. LaeMing
    Childcatcher

    Stop knocking homeopathy!

    It is a known contributor to the forward-going health of the human gene pool.

    I know it is all very PC, in this age of 'everyone gets a trophy so no-one feels left out', but stupid people dying by their own hand in ways that don't take undeserving others with them is, ultimately, good for the species as a whole.

  24. pacman7de
    Facepalm

    Homeopathy: no Ingredients, no Testing, no Facts ..

    So-called homeopathic remedies may be the only products given a free pass to say they’re intended to treat disease, without any proof at all that they work”. randi.org

  25. GBE

    Did you hear about....

    Did you hear about the homeopath's patient who forgot to take his medication?

    He died of an overdose.

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    There are different definitions of homepathy

    There are some substances that do in fact seem to provide useful value while there is also a lot of "snake oil" sold for great profit. The reason why legitimate homepathy is not further researched is because Big Pharma can't patent any common health aid thus they can't reap fortunes. It's always about the money...not about healing.

    1. Boris the Cockroach Silver badge
      FAIL

      Re: There are different definitions of homepathy

      The reason big pharma cant patent homepathic remedies is because its very hard to patent water, but in any case, if it worked as claimed, then all they'd do is add a spot of food colouring to it and patent that and flog it for $100/dose

      But in any case , whats the remedy for the following

      1. 90%+ blockage of the main stem of the left cardiac artery (anything that takes longer than 4 weeks kills the patient)

      2. deep seated staph infection in graft doner leg. must be able to bring staph numbers down enough in 3 days so that patient can leave ITU

      And as a final question

      3. Multiple fractures in patients right femur and tibia, single facture in left tibia and severe damage to left knee.

      When homopathy can cure that lot I'll use it instead of calling 999.

      Boris

      <<has more scars than he would like

      1. Squander Two

        Re: There are different definitions of homepathy

        Look, homeopathy is bollocks, but so is that argument. Endocrinology can't cure any of those ailments, either. Doesn't mean it doesn't work.

        You really don't need to put all this extra effort into coming up with convoluted criticisms of homeopathy when "It's just water" works so well.

      2. Stevie

        Re: When homopathy can cure that lot I'll use it instead of calling 999.

        Or you could just stop wrestling combine harvesters, Boris.

  27. badger31

    How do they clean their equipment?

    1. M Gale

      I guess they stick it in an autoclave, where it is blasted with superheated medicine under pressure?

  28. Big-nosed Pengie

    "Homeopathic remedies normally consists of highly diluted solutions of natural substances water"

    I fixed that for you.

  29. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    People don't actually drown in water

    They die from a massive homeopathy overdose!

    (Sick joke, just like homeopathy)

  30. Allan George Dyer
    Flame

    I like the way...

    they always talk about "natural substances", but penicillin is perfectly natural, not that I'm suggesting eating mouldy bread is a guarantee for good health. Other natural things include lions, malaria and molten lava. I am not responsible for any injury that may occur when attempting to dilute a volcano.

  31. Tom 7

    Dont flush your homeopathic medicines

    otherwise the sea will cure everything and the nutters will have to find real jobs.

  32. Scroticus Canis
    Happy

    No allergic reactions reported...

    So even homoeopathic penicillin is ineffective?

  33. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How do you become a homeopath?

    How do you become a homeopath? Swimming in the same pool that other homeopaths use?

  34. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

    Of course

    Of course they've put real medicine in their homeopathic slosh. It means that their stuff works. So you will get homeopathic headache cure with a proper does of acetaminophen in it, I bet. So everybody's happy, but it costs more than when it's called Tylenol. Still, if the customer's satisfied.

    1. M Gale

      Re: Of course

      acetaminophen

      Paracetamol!

      Grumblegrumble bloody Americans grumble.

      1. Robert Carnegie Silver badge

        N-acetyl-p-aminophenol

        if you're fussy.

        When I buy it, it is "paracetamol", and usually the acceptable supermarket brand. But a large proportion of Register readers only speak American, and the rest of us are surely smart enough to look it up, so I translated.

        As for them putting this or other real drugs into "homeopathic" pills, that's only a theory - until now, apparently.

        In any case, do not take more than one of these drugs together - they are the same stuff and it doesn't take a lot to make a deadly overdose, as your liver dies and rots inside you. I've also heard an argument that taking this stuff and caffeine could be a risk - including with tea or coffee - but that was based on a test tube trial. I suppose they can't very well do an experiment with people.

  35. southpacificpom
    Coat

    Fucking hippies...

  36. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Homeopathic A&E - always makes me laugh

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMGIbOGu8q0

  37. Clive Galway

    What I really do not get...

    If homeopathists really believed it, there would be no point in selling it.

    If it gets more powerful the more you dilute it, then surely by definition any sample of it you are selling is more powerful than your "stock", thus making the bottle that it came in more valuable than the contents of it that they sold you.

    Furthermore, it would be impossible to use anything for the container, as it would be "contaminated".

    Washing it would only make it worse.

    IMHO the way to get rid of these snake oil salesmen would be to sue them.

    Surely if you sued them for contamination of products (ie contaminated with a different homeopathic cure than the one you bought), then it would be impossible for them to disprove the case without arguing that homeothapy is bunk?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: What I really do not get...

      The secret to big business and fraudulent business (are they different? Oh well, this is not a dig at them, but an observation) is to never make a legal claim unless you can legally back it.

      Thus medicine works, because it makes legal claims that actually do happen.

      Some alternatives never make a claim, so you can never make a legal challenge.

      Some big companies have T&C to defend themselves.

      So it's finding those who neither pretend to have a product, or pretend to be above the law.

  38. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I've always rather liked the idea of suggesting to homeopaths that as a solution to the energy crisis, they try homeopathic gasoline...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      @David W - You used the term "gasoline" so are clearly not from around here 8)

      I note that the US int al has a lower standard RON than the UK according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Octane_rating although I seem to remember that we actually have 95 as standard and 98 is the fancier and more expensive stuff.

      Perhaps (and I am making a pretty massive leap of supposition as to your country of origin) you are already in the grip of homeopathic gas peddlers - do you find that your car suddenly starts to work when it's refuelled ?

      Amazing.

      Cheers

      Jon

      1. Joseph Eoff

        In the US, the octane rating on the pump is determined by testing for the Research Octane Number (RON) as used in Europe and testing for the Motor Octane Number. These two number are then averaged ((R+N)/2)) to give the octane rating at the pump. Since Motor Ocaten is usually 8 to 10 points lower than RON, you end up with a lower number for the same qualtiy gasoline.

        Look at any gasoline pump in the US. It will say Octane ((R+N)/2), whereas the pumps in Europe are all marked RON.

        You get the same quality of gasoline, its just a different number.

        1. Squander Two

          > You get the same quality of gasoline, its just a different number.

          No, it's different stuff (though I don't know the details of what the difference is). American and European engines are set up differently to cope with the different fuel types. Ship your European car to the US (or vice versa) and you need to have it converted.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Bull fucking shit. You have to figure out the correct octane rating, and you probably want to check the ethanol content. The ethanol content could be a problem if where you are in the US only offer E10, since there are quite a few european cars (and no few US ones) that don't like that much ethanol. Same problem as in Europe, though. The octane thing comes down to the different way of figuring it, and that's all.

          2. Stevie

            Bah!

            Squander Two, you are full of Ethanol. European cars work just fine on US gasoline (unless they are so old they need unleaded which can be hard to find, but even then).

            Do you think Top Gear brings a ship full of good old English Petrol when they come over to do yet another daft European supercar drive in some redneck place?

            And what do you think that nice Geordie bloke from AC/DC runs his Bentley on?

            Sweet Azathoth's Nebulous Nodes.

  39. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    If you think that placebos for humans are bad enough

    I know someone around here who has found enough gullible customers that he can actually make a living selling "homeopathic remedies" for animals !!

    1. teebie

      Re: If you think that placebos for humans are bad enough

      The placebo effect does work on animals, so these remedies are equally effective across species.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: If you think that placebos for humans are bad enough

        "The placebo effect does work on animals"

        I can't imagine it would work on cats. I'm pretty certain that mine never believes anything I tell him.

        1. jake Silver badge

          Re: If you think that placebos for humans are bad enough

          Other than the obvious "humans are animals" ...

          The placebo effect does work on pet animals. But not for the reason that you might think. It works because the animal's owner see that their cute & furry are being given what the owner thinks are "meds", thus calming down the owner. The critter feels the calm from the owner, and so in turn calms down. Probably the most common example of this placebo effect is "rescue remedy".

          Somewhat similar is physicians prescribing antibiotics for viral infections in children ... the parent/guardian assumes that "injections/pills will work", calms down, and the kids in turn relax & their body naturally fights off the virus without wasting energy on fear.

  40. Wzrd1 Silver badge

    Homeopathic bullshit relies upon the inane belief that a trace memory is present in fucking water.

    Water remembers when you pissed in it a century ago, if you're that fucking old.

    It remembers a trace of antibiotic that was diluted enough to not be noticed by a single bacteria.

    This recall is because it wasn't so diluted it couldn't be detected. I read the original recall alert, as I'm on more mailing lists than Cater has Little Liver pills.

    It was nearly at therapeutic levels, but sterility and quality was not assured.

    So much for some homeopathetic bullshit. Selling Christ knows what level of antibiotic, with shit knows sterility level, as a medicine.

    But, the US has The Best Healthcare System In The World.

    For either the Queen or other billionaire. Sparse helpings for the ignorant masses.

    Hence, patent medicine.

    And yes, I'm a US citizen. But, learned from experience what *real* healthcare is from Europe and even from Arabs.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Tell me about "real healthcare." In Germany, your fucking DOCTOR is likely to prescribe homeopathic crap, and a good many of the health insurance comapnies will cover it. That's what european "real healthcare" gets you.

  41. Joseph Eoff

    Homeopathy and water

    In Germany, most homeopathic remedies are pills that have been sprayed with the homeopathic solution. Since the water evaporates, there's nothing left to "remember" the remedy.

    Homeopathic remedies in Germany are all required to be marked „Registriertes homöopathisches Arzneimittel, daher ohne Angabe einer therapeutischen Indikation“ which translates roughly as "Registered homeopathic medicine, therefore no indication of intended thereapy" basically "homepathic crap, we aren't allowed to tell you what it might be good for because it really isn't"

    There's still an absolute metric fuckton of idiots (including doctors) here who believe in the crap, though.

  42. squigbobble

    I think I'll start selling...

    ...homeopathic distilled water. I could make my fortune!

  43. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Homeopathy credulity test

    My pharmacy sells homeopathy. When I asked the pharmacist whether she actually believed in that stuff, she replied that if I thought that emptying a beer in a pool and jumping in it mouth open I would end up drunk at the other end I was ready for homeopathy :)

    1. Joseph Eoff

      Re: Homeopathy credulity test

      Actually ,according to the rules of homeopathy, you should be able to pour a beer in a swimming pool then drink a sip from the other end of the pool and it should cure your hangover - provided you can find a way to smack the swimming pool on the cover of a leather bound bible. According to Hahnemann, the smacking thing is an important part of the process.

  44. The Grump
    Flame

    If only the FDA would...

    allow optional testing of these so-called "all natural" miracle cures, there would be no doubt what works and what doesn't. I mean, don't expect the floodgates to open at the FDA - very few homeopathic product manufacturers would volunteer their "products" for testing. Right now, they can hide behind the FDA's statement that the FDA doesn't test "food supplements" - that's how they classify these all natural products. That's fine with the Homeopathic Industry - they can finance their own "clinical trials", bought and paid for with the understanding that the result will be favorable, with enough legalese to skirt any legal requirements.

    If the cure says "all natural" - save your money, and maybe your life. Like cocaine, God knows what they cut their pills with. I wouldn't put that in MY body.

  45. Felix Krull
    Paris Hilton

    I had a girlfriend who was into all this crap: astrology, healing, crystal healing, remote healing, homoeopathy, eurythmics, biodynamics, hypnosis, herbal medicine, aura therapy, the works. She ingested 'natural' medicine of all kinds by the decalitre, but whenever she got sick, she went to see a real doctor.

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